Water soluble detergent pouches are becoming the laundry and dish detergent form of choice for many consumers. Consumers enjoy being able to use the detergent without having to come into contact with the detergent since some detergents may have a slimy feel and may be difficult to rinse from their skin.
Detergent pouches may contain one or more of powder composition, liquid composition, and combinations thereof. Pouches containing a powder composition can be particularly attractive to consumers and manufacturers since formulating such composition is simple as compared to liquid compositions.
A typical process used to form pouches containing powder detergent composition is to provide a bottom continuous web of water soluble film carried on a mold having one or more pockets and conforming the film to the pockets of the mold so that the web has a plurality of recesses. The recesses can be at least partially filled powder detergent composition. The detergent composition can be provided to the bottom film in registration with a pocket prior to conforming so that as the bottom film is conformed to the pocket the powder falls into or is deformed with the recess in the bottom film formed as the bottom film is conformed to the pocket. The composition can be provided in the recess as the bottom film is being conformed to the pocket or after the bottom film has been conformed to the pocket.
After the powder resides in the recess, a top continuous web of water soluble film is placed over the bottom continuous web and the top continuous web is bonded to seal landings between the recesses in the bottom continuous web to form an array of pouches. The array of pouches may extend in one or more of the machine direction and or cross direction. Downstream of the forming and filling operations the array of pouches is cut in one or more of the machine direction and or cross direction to provide individual pouches.
Dosing the powder to be in the desired locations on the film, whether flat film or conformed with a pocket to form a recess, can be difficult to control precisely. Often some, some of the granular material ends up being deposited on the seal landings between recesses. Granular material residing on the seal landings can interfere with achieving a coherent seal between the top continuous web and the bottom continuous web. Without a competent seal between the top continuous web and bottom continuous web to form the individual pouches, pouches may be prone to being messy to use and leak powder from the pouch during storage and or use, which can be dissatisfying to consumers, as mentioned above.
With these limitations in mind, there is a continuing unaddressed need for a seal cleaner and process of using a seal cleaner to enable the top continuous web and the bottom continuous web to be bonded to one another securely.